Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Congress plans to replicate the “models of governance” in Karnataka, represented by the guarantee schemes, across the rest of the country.
Addressing a mammoth gathering at the launch of Karnataka government’s flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme — the fourth of the five guarantees which envisages payment of ₹2,000 every month to women head of families in the State — at a function in Mysuru on Wednesday, Mr. Gandhi described the guarantee schemes as “governance models.” The Congress party plans to replicate the work taken up by the Government of Karnataka, particularly for empowerment of women, across the country, he said, adding that “Karnataka was showing the way for the entire country.”
Beneficiaries from Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu and Mandya districts had gathered at Maharaja’s College grounds, where the launch event was held. While Congress president M. Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, inaugurated the function presided over by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Mr. Gandhi pressed the button on an electronic tablet handed over to him by the officials of the State’s e-governance department to formally launch the scheme.
‘BJP working for billionnaires’
Accusing the BJP-led Union government of working for the benefit of billionaires, Mr. Gandhi said the Centre’s developmental schemes were aimed at benefiting only them. The Opposition party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had accused the Congress of lying and claimed that the guarantee schemes cannot be implemented. But, the party had proved itself by implementing them, he said.
Mr. Gandhi said he heard the women of Karnataka during his Bharat Jodo padayatra last year. The rise in prices of essential commodities including petrol, diesel and LPG was hitting the women hard and they had sought relief from the same. “The guarantee schemes of Karnataka were not conceived by think tanks or industrialists but by the women of Karnataka. You have shown us the way,” he said. Women to society were like roots providing trees with “invisible strength”, he said.
‘Congress uniting India’
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kharge countered Mr. Modi’s questioning of the contributions of the Congress since Independence and said that Congress was uniting the country while the BJP was trying to divide India. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was testimony to that, he added.
Minister for Women and Child Development Lakshmi Hebbalkar, who is heading the department implementing the scheme, said a total of 1.11 crore beneficiaries across the State had so far been registered for the scheme envisaging Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of ₹2,000 per month. After the formal launch, ten beneficiaries from Mysuru were presented with digital cards by the leaders to symbolically launch the scheme.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who recalled the “glorious days” of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the occasion, said Gruha Lakshmi scheme has been simultaneously launched across 12,000 venues in different parts of the State including offices of various panchayats, municipalities and wards.
